


What if?

by my_idiot_stories



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Is Sunshine, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Emilie Agreste was Papillon, Emilie is missing, F/M, Gen, Hawk Moth is Gabriel Agreste, Kwami Swap, Marinette is a model, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Plagg Loves Cheese, after that i have no plan and i'm open to suggestions, lovesquare shenanigans, marinette is worried about being a superhero but she has to save alya, the agrestes own the bakery, the beginning of this will be about stoneheart/the origins episodes, the dupain-chengs own a fashion brand
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-08-05 05:09:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16361432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_idiot_stories/pseuds/my_idiot_stories
Summary: Famous model Marinette Dupain-Cheng and baker's son Adrien Agreste are tasked with defeating Hawkmoth and saving Paris. Little do they know Adrien is fighting akumas alongside his crush and Marinette's handsome spotted teammate has been going to her new school all along.AKA the fic where we ask "What if Marinette and Adrien switched lives and kwamis?"





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> huge thanks to trashthensass.tumblr.com for helping me! i hope you guys like this. at first it was just a fun headcanon i had and then it got really complicated and i wanted to write it and share it with the world. feel free to let me know in the comments if you enjoyed reading this and what you think will happen B)

The Emilie & Gabe Boulangerie Patisserie. They’ve owned this place for almost twenty years.

Growing up, Emilie loved watching as her aunt made her favorite desserts. Something as simple as a madeleine had always made her so happy because it was made with so much love. Emilie dreamed of the day she could give other people that feeling.

And she has. After months of planning and disagreeing and “Why can’t it at least be ‘Gabriel’ instead of ‘Gabe’?” Emilie got what she’s always wanted: a bakery. They’re pretty popular, too. She was proud of their progress.

Though it took a lot of convincing, Gabriel eventually grew to tolerate their shop and their house. At first, it seemed too small. He was used to so much...more. But after settling down and having their son, he realized they didn’t need more than the four floors they had.

Compromise was the key.

~

“We’ll take this place...as long as I get to use the living room as a study occasionally,” Gabriel said as he watched Emilie open and close the kitchen cabinets.

"Sure." Emilie turned to him with her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised. "But I want to pick all the paint colors because we are not keeping everything a boring white."

"Fine."

~

"I don't want to paint my son's room purple, Emilie!" Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose as his wife scaled a step ladder, paintbrush in hand.

"Well, that's good because you're not the one painting it." She sent him a smirk over her shoulder.

Gabriel sighed.

"Just one wall, then!" Emilie said, spreading out her arms pleadingly.

~

Gabriel walked into the kitchen carrying a bag of flour. "You're absolutely sure you won't change your mind?"

"Pretty sure. I like 'Gabe.' It's less..." Emilie twirled her whisk in the air, trying to come up with a good word. "Proper. It’s more approachable."

She gave a quick smile as thanks when he went to drop the flour on the counter. Her focus was on the custard she was making so she didn't realize the bag was open until a white cloud flew out of it and slowly fell to the floor, across the counter, and all over Gabriel's head. Both of them stood in shock for several seconds. Emilie almost felt bad when she snickered at his scrunched, powdered face.

With laughter in her voice, she reached forward and shook some of the flour out of his blond hair, saying, “I’ll clean more often if you let me keep ‘Gabe’ in the name.”

“Deal.”

~

One thing she wouldn’t budge on was the basement. She insisted that they needed it. She would take care of that. She would use it for storage and she’d keep track of it all. Gabriel wasn’t even allowed in the basement because apparently, his perfectionist personality would compel him to reorganize everything until Emilie didn’t know where anything was. But she never told him the whole truth.

She never told him what she secretly used the basement for.

—

Emilie walked down the stairs into the basement. Looking around, she saw boxes and bags filled with old equipment they haven’t used in years. “Nooroo?” She called.

He sat in the dark, curled up in a ball with his eyes closed and a blissful expression on his face. Emilie turned on the desk lamp that sat beside his tiny dog bed. He was so cute when he was resting like this. She felt guilty for disturbing him.

“Nooroo,” Emilie whispered as she gently poked his side.

Nooroo grunted and turned over. He was lying on his stomach, his arms spreading wide as his face sunk into the bed. Emilie giggled at his mock frustration and sleepiness. “Fu wants to see us.”

Slowly turning his head in her direction, Nooroo let one eye squint open. “Everything safe?”

“Yeah, I think so. He didn’t say what was wrong so it’s probably only another team meeting.”

Nooroo lazily floated up to sit in her outstretched palm, a rueful smile on his face. “Those get boring.”

“I’ll make it up to you.” Emilie gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. “Wings rise!”

—

Nooroo immediately regrets telling this story. Something is advising him to run and to stop talking but he can’t. Nooroo nervously avoided eye contact with the man towering over him in this dark, dusty basement.

His voice is cold and angry but controlled. The kwami shivers at the sound of it. “And that was the last day you spoke to her?”

“...yes.” Nooroo’s quiet voice shakes. _I don’t want this. I don’t know what to do. I'm so disappointed in myself. I couldn’t protect her._

_I miss Emilie._

Nooroo never got the chance to get to know him when Emilie was still around. He never would have expected this much anger and sadness to be hidden behind that cold, expressionless facade. He could tell this man should be nowhere near a Miraculous.

Nooroo’s Miraculous had never been put in the wrong hands. He’s scared to think about what would happen if it was.

“Tell me...Nooroo.” Gabriel clutches at the newly uncovered brooch and steps closer to his captive. “What powers do you grant?”


	2. Chat Noir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette finds something strange in her room and makes a new friend.

“What’s this doing here?”

Marinette opens the small, black box sitting in front of her. A bright light fills her room as a small creature appears.

Plagg yawns and stretches, his eyes opening slightly to take in his surroundings. Big room, pink walls, tons of art supplies, terrified teenager. Yep, everything seemed to be in order.

“AAH!” Marinette attempts to push herself further into her couch, clawing at the cushions. “Help, it’s a tiny cat! A mouse! A cat-mouse!”

Plagg gives her a grumpy look. “Hey, I’m not a mouse, alright?”

“AH! Cat-mouse talks!” Marinette quickly swipes her brand new sketchbook off the table and frantically crawls over her couch to hide behind it. She throws the book, uttering a loud but scared “Shoo!”

Plagg didn’t know what he expected but, to be fair, none of his previous owners had immediately started chucking paper at him the moment he showed up. Well, that’s definitely happened before, just not so soon. “Whoa! Calm down, Marinette!” He narrowly dodged the sketchbook. “Let me explain!”

Marinette looks behind her in a panic, deciding to trap this tiny beast, and reaches for an empty glass on her bedside table. She lunges at Plagg and captures him in the cup.

 _This one’s full of surprises._ Plagg crosses his arms. “OK, this won’t do anything but if it’ll help…”

“What are you? How do you know my name?” Marinette’s initial shock was slowly being replaced by curiosity and awe at the little, talking cat.

“I’m a kwami. Name’s Plagg. Now, please calm down." Plagg searched the bedroom one more time but couldn't find what he was looking for. "And I don’t wanna explain everything on an empty stomach. So. Is there anything edible in this room?”

“Mom! Dad!”

“Nonononononono!” Plagg phases through the glass and stops Marinette from alerting her parents. “I’m friendly, I promise. And I need you to trust me. You can help stop Stoneheart.” He points at her TV which still shows pictures on the news of the rock monster currently terrorizing the city.

The suspicion is evident on Marinette’s face as she slowly turns back toward Plagg, letting out a stern reply. “Explain.”

Plagg sighs. “You have been chosen to be Chat Noir, a super powerful superhero. You’re part of a crime fighting duo now so get ready to learn about all the cool things you get to do.”

Marinette’s eyes widen in shock. “This has to be a misunderstanding. I couldn’t possibly be a superhero! I’m not Alya’s favorite character, whatever her name was- oh! Alya. My friend from school. You should ask her to be… ‘Chat Noir’! She’d be great at this.”

Plagg interrupts Marinette’s rambling. “No. Listen, YOU were chosen. Not your friend. The powers I grant you are going to change your life—if you decide to accept them—so I get being a little scared about that.” He lets himself fall onto the table, spreading out his arms, groaning. “I’m hungry. Seriously, what do you have to eat?”

Marinette just stares at him for a few seconds. “If I feed you, will you tell me what all of this means?”

“Sure.”

 _Not very convincing but...fine._ Marinette slowly stands up and backs away, never letting her gaze leave the black cat until she reaches her door. “What do you want?”

“Anything with cheese. I’m in a cheesy mood.”

“OK. Cheese. Be right back.” 

—-

Wayzz sends a concerned look in Fu’s direction. “Do you think they’ll be up to it, Master?”

“Things will be different this time but I only got it wrong once. It will never happen again. I hope.” Fu takes a deep breath while he hides the other Miraculous.

—-

“All you have is Camembert?!”

“Well, it was the first thing I saw in the fridge so…” Marinette holds out the plate of cheese to Plagg who eagerly reaches for it, practically leaping onto the plate.

“That’s perfect!” Plagg starts to stuff his face. “I like you already.”

Marinette sets the plate down on her bed and sits cross legged next to it. “So I’m part of a crime fighting duo.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Who’s the other one?”

Plagg freezes and swallows the cheese before looking straight into her eyes. This is serious business. He needs to treat it seriously. “You can’t know who he is and he can’t know who you are. You’ll fight together whenever someone like Stoneheart shows up but you need to have a secret identity. That’ll keep you safe.”

Marinette tilts her head to the side. “How can I trust, let alone fight alongside some guy I don’t know?”

“You’ll figure it out. All Cats and Ladybugs do.”

_Ladybugs? Were all superheroes named after animals or insects?_

Plagg continued, either oblivious to or ignoring her confusion. “I’m here to give you the power of destruction. When you’re Chat Noir, you can destroy whatever you touch when you say ‘cataclysm.’ The catch is it only works once per transformation and once you use it, you have about five minutes before you change back.”

“Change back? Change back from what?”

“Oh, right.” Plagg whizzes over to the black box and carries it to her. He tells her to open it and she cautiously inspects the inside.

“You need to wear these earrings.” Plagg sits back on the plate, picking up another small piece of Camembert. “They’re your Miraculous. It’s what gives you your superhero outfit- which is indestructible and very comfortable, so you can relax if you were worried about getting hurt.”

 _I’m worried about a lot more than that._ Marinette picks up the earrings and studies them. They’re just black earrings. Nothing special. How would they give someone a supersuit?

“A weapon is also included in your ensemble.” The kwami lets out a satisfied noise as he cleans his plate. “A staff. You can use that to travel around Paris and hit bad guys.”

Eyebrows raised, Marinette asks, “Who are the bad guys?”

“Like I said, there will be more like Stoneheart. But all of them will be innocent civilians. Your job and Ladybug’s job is to return them to normal by finding where the akuma is hiding and capturing it. And! Before you ask, akumas are basically evil butterflies that make emotional people turn into supervillains. Ladybug is the one who purifies the akuma but you’re both there to support each other, to make sure everything turns out alright.”

Marinette puts the earrings on, stands up, and starts pacing around her room. “OK, so all I have to do is say ‘cataclysm’ and that breaks stuff?”

“Pretty much,” Plagg replied, relieved that the lesson was almost over. “And don’t forget that you only get one shot and then you’ll start running out of time.”

“This is all going way too fast, Plagg. I-I won’t be able to pull this off!” Marinette buries her face in her hands.

“Just believe in yourself, kid. And say ‘Claws out.’”

“Claws out?” She looks at him through her fingers and watches as Plagg flies into her left earring. Marinette gasps as she notices a green light cover her entirely.

“What is happening?!” She stares at her body, her normal clothes being replaced with black...leather? No, it’s different. It doesn’t feel like any material she’s familiar with, though, which is surprising considering her modeling job and how often she works with fabric. She feels her face and notices that a mask has been placed there.

Running to the bathroom, Marinette mutters, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” As she stands in front of her mirror, the first thing that shocks her is her eyes.

The whites of her eyes were completely gone and her pupils looked like small slits. The left side of her right eye was completely blue but the other half was green. A color that looked eerily similar to Plagg’s eyes. The left eye was a mirror image of the right.

Heterochromia was definitely not what she expected to come with the supersuit and the power of destruction but she kind of liked it.

Marinette’s black suit covered her entire body. Her only accessory was a small, silver bell that hung below her neck. Her feet were encased in the nicest boots she’s ever worn. _I guess Plagg wasn’t lying; this is comfy._

She hardly recognized herself in this getup and without her usual pigtails. All of her dark hair was held in a small, messy bun atop her head with the exception of her bangs, framed in between her second pair of ears. Of course, with a name like Chat Noir, she should’ve expected to have cat ears. Ears which seemed to move as if they were always a part of her head, like she was a real cat. Turning around, she notices she has a belt that acted as a tail too.

“I don’t wanna be a furry.” Marinette grumbles to herself and she walks out of the bathroom, noticing the palms of her hands. They looked...pink? “Huh. And I have toe beans. Great.” 

Shaking her head, she reaches for the weapon on her back. Like Plagg said, it was a staff. Apparently she can use it to travel. Somehow.

Her attention is drawn back to her TV which shows the latest news. The reporter references the live footage of the akuma. “Stoneheart is heading to the Montparnasse tower. The monster seems to be unstoppable.”

Following close behind Stoneheart is a girl riding on her bike. Confused, Marinette walks closer to the screen. _Who on Earth would put themself in danger like that- oh no, that’s **Alya!**_

Her mind made up, Marinette stomps over to her wall of windows. She won’t let anything happen to her friend, ever.

 _Good thing these are here. I don’t know how else I’d sneak out._ She opens a window and pulls herself up to sit on its edge. “OK. I have special powers. And apparently this amazing super...staff thingy?”

Turning the staff around in her hands, she notices a button shaped like a paw and presses it. The staff extends and she flies up into the sky. Starting to fall, Marinette grips the staff and it catapults her further away from her house.

“Waaaaaah!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've had writer's block for a while so i'm not sure when i'll be able to post chapter three but i hope you enjoyed this one! please comment and tell me what you liked. kudos are nice too :P


	3. Coccinelle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien meets his kwami and starts his new, exciting life as a superhero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took a long time because i'm not good at writing action scenes but i eventually found a way to completely avoid it lol  
> i hope you enjoy chapter 3

Peeking around the corner to check the living room, Adrien lets out a relieved sigh when he notices no one is there. Avoiding his father isn’t necessary, just preferred at this point. He rushes up to his bedroom and drops his bag on his desk. A small black box gets pushed off and falls on the floor, right in front of Adrien’s feet. He stares at it, eyes narrowing while trying to remember if this was one of his mom’s jewelry boxes or something similar.

“What’s this doing here?” He picks up the small box and studies it as his other hand reaches for the TV remote. Turning on the TV and switching to the news, Adrien sits on his desk chair to examine the box closer. There’s some ornate design painted on the top which is not recognizable to Adrien in the slightest. _Whose is this?_

“Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back,” Adrien mumbles to himself as he lifts the lid. His whole room is instantly filled with a blinding light which causes Adrien to drop the box in a panic, push the chair away from his desk, and cover his eyes. The light fades and the only thing left of it is Tikki with a relaxed smile on her face. Her big eyes open to meet Adrien’s peering through his fingers. She can barely contain her excitement at meeting her new hero-in-training.

“No way.” Adrien’s jaw drops along with his hands. “Like the genie in the lamp!” He reaches out to touch her and gently pokes her stomach.

Tikki giggles. “I met him once. His powers are interesting but mine are a little different. I’m Tikki, nice to meet you!” She holds out her tiny hand which Adrien grabs with his thumb and forefinger to shake.

“What are you doing here?” Adrien asks.

“I’m a kwami. That means I grant powers. And your power will be creation.”

He narrows his eyes, hesitating to respond. “My dad’s pranking me, right? Wait, no, he couldn't be, he has no sense of humor.”

Tikki quickly flew closer to Adrien’s face. Her tone is suddenly a lot tougher as she says, “Your father can never know about me! No one can.”

_I’m getting more questions than answers right now._ “Why not?”

Tikki collects herself, getting ready to introduce Adrien to his new life. “It’s sort of complicated but I’ll tell you everything so don’t worry, Adrien!”

~~

During the Superheroing lesson, complete with advice and references to the news currently being broadcasted, Adrien is a bundle of energy. Tikki decides to wrap up the lesson quickly.  
“And the last thing you need to learn about is the akumas.”

“About the what?”

Tikki gives him an encouraging smile. “When you find the object I was talking about, you need to break it. That releases the akuma, a butterfly. Then you need to capture it.”

“Alright, find the thing, break the thing, capture the thing. Understood.”

He could hardly sit still while being told of all the fun, heroic things he could do now. His joy at being picked for this job was evident in his features. Adrien slams his hands on his desk and pushes himself to his feet, talking fast. “Okay. So when do I get to be a magical boy?”

Tikki laughs. “I think we’re gonna get along. You can transform whenever you’re wearing that ring and you say ‘Spots on.’”

Adrien looks down at the ring on his right hand. “Spots on.” He whispers and Tikki is sucked into the ring. Adrien watches excitedly as he’s covered from head to toe with a beautiful light that miraculously ( _Haha_ ) changes his normal clothes into a red and black costume. Multiple poses later, Adrien sprints to the mirror hanging on the single purple wall in his room to the right of his desk.

His costume really does look like a ladybug. Aside from the forearms and below his knees which are completely black, his body is covered in red with black dots spread all over.

His hair had been pushed back during his transformation and it seemed to be stuck there as if he had used hair gel. This freed his forehead and drew attention to the red and black mask covering his face. The only other difference he could notice was the ring, which now matched his supersuit and the yoyo (black with red dots) placed on his hip.

He had to admit it. He looked awesome.

He laced his fingers together and placed them under his chin, admiring his kwami’s sense of style. “Thank you, Tikki.” He uttered in a low voice.

The sound of the TV shocked him out of his trance. He heard the reporter give an update on the akuma. “Stoneheart is heading to the Montparnasse tower. The monster seems to be unstoppable.”

_Right. Paris needs saving. And I gotta find my new partner._ Adrien climbs the ladder up to his balcony and grabs his yoyo. After giving it a few small, experimental tosses he focuses on a chimney down the street and hurls the yoyo at it. A red streak flies across the skyline.

“I think I'm starting to get the hang of this?” Adrien throws his yoyo experimentally but it travels too far and- 

—

Marinette falls, quickly letting her staff extend and balance itself across two rooftops. Immediately after she sighs and starts to relax her grip, a string wraps around the staff directly in front of her face. Adrien tries to pull the yoyo away but it’s stuck. He's yanked forward and collides with Marinette. The yoyo string gets tangled and wraps around both of them as they try to claw their way back to the staff to avoid falling. They end up upside-down, facing each other, dangling five feet above the ground.

“Well, hey there! You OK?” Adrien grins in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“Uh, yeah, you?” Marinette tries not to let her embarrassment get the better of her. The two superheroes untangle themselves and land safely on the street. Adrien retrieves his spotted weapon.

“I’m fine. Sorry about that. I guess we’re both learning the ropes, huh?” He demonstrates by dropping his yoyo and pulling it back by the string, into his palm. “I bet you're the partner my kwami told me about. I'm...Coccinelle? Yeah, sure, Coccinelle. And you?”

“I'm Ma-” The staff retracts and falls on Coccinelle’s head.

“Madly clumsy, I’m so clumsy.” Her cat ears droop and her hands tangle themselves together.

“No sweat, clumsy-girl!” He flashes her a genuine smile to show he’s not hurt.

There’s a loud crashing sound behind them and their attention is drawn to the falling building down the street. Coccinelle springs into action and throws the yoyo at a nearby rooftop.

“Hey, wait!” Marinette’s voice wavers. “Where are you going?”

“We’re here to save Paris, right?” Marinette hears Coccinelle say as he disappears behind the building, undoubtedly off to fight the akuma like he was born to do it. _He looks so...confident. How does he do that? How could I ever get used to this?_

Marinette shakes those negative thoughts out of her head and takes a deep breath. “Believe in yourself,” she utters, gripping her staff tighter and running after Coccinelle before realizing she should be practicing using her staff to travel.

She presses the paw button on her staff and she’s launched in the direction of her partner. She’s sure the yelp that escaped her sounds very heroic to any passerby who might have been in the area.

~~

She didn’t expect a fight with a rock monster to be easy. And it wasn’t, not by a long shot, but it was a lot less stressful than she thought it would be. Once Coccinelle had gotten his lucky charm, they came up with a crazy but perfect plan to win. They were lucky Alya was there to help them too.

Still out of breath, Marinette watches as Coccinelle stands in front of the defeated akuma triumphantly, hands on his hips and smiling brightly. She reminds him he has another responsibility and at first, he looks very lost but quickly recovers and abruptly reaches for his yoyo. She hears him mumble something like “Capture the thing. Why did I forget to capture the thing?” 

It’s almost as if he had already choreographed what to do as he purified the akuma; that’s how naturally this seemed to come to him. It made Marinette chuckle. _I hope I can keep up with you._

Something about him is very calming. Marinette no longer feels worried about being able to trust her new partner. Something about his carefree attitude is oddly familiar but it makes her smile. _The puns he used were a nice occasional distraction from the terrifying situation we were in._

“You did it!” Marinette exclaims as the butterfly disappears.

“What are you talking about? That was mostly your plan! You were incredible, Miss...uh, Cat Lady.”

Marinette snickers. “Thanks. But I think we were both incredible.” She offers her fist to him and he bumps it with his.

“Pound it!”

Coccinelle’s ring beeps.

“You should get going,” Marinette mentions dejectedly, “But I’d still like to talk to you about a few things so...could we meet at the Eiffel Tower around 5:00 p.m. tomorrow?” 

“Sure! I know our identities have to be a secret but I would like to get to know you at least a little.” He bows to her. “Au revoir, fair maiden. Until tomorrow.” He flashes one last grin at her before he runs and jumps away.

“See you later,” she says when he’s out of earshot and she makes her way over to Ivan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> your kudos, comments, and bookmarks are highly appreciated :D

**Author's Note:**

> the chapters after this are still a work in progress so please be patient with me and i'll post them as soon as i can. school is taking up a lot of my time so i hope you guys will understand :)


End file.
